Visit Report – Hounds for Heroes

By webmaster | December 1, 2017

Shortly after advising Hounds for Heroes that they have been chosen as one of the club’s sponsored charities for 2018, an invitation was received from them to attend one of the charity’s open days early in November.
The number able to attend was very limited and unfortunately, a general invitation to the club was not possible.
Denise and Don who nominated the charity and myself arrived at their location, a converted farm near Petersfield together with around 20+ other guests.

The first part of the presentation was a demonstration by a 2-year-old retriever named Wren, a ‘cadet’, as the dogs in training are referred to. Wren was just coming to the end of her training and would shortly be matched with her ‘partner’. She demonstrated opening and closing doors and draws, pushing buttons for such things as automatic doors, searching out specific essential medicines and how she could assist her partner whilst shopping by removing cans from shelving.

Next was the star of the show, Poppy, a 5 month old golden retriever, a real cutie. She had just about mastered sitting and staying, but was a real hit with the audience.

The final part of the visit was a talk by Allen Parton, the founder of the charity, this was both moving and inspiring. He provided a background into the charity, its aims together with detail of his experiences with
his first assistance dog Endal. Of interest was the fact that Hounds for Heroes not only provide dogs for ex-military users but also for members of the public services.


They are planning to have a stand at next year’s Overlord show, however disappointingly, due to the loud noise of the gunfire, they are unable to bring any of their dogs with them. We have also requested that Allen
comes along on one of our club nights and gives his presentation to us all. We are currently waiting on a proposed date.

John Whiting.

Left to Right (Back): John, Denise, Don
Front: Allen Parton